Building a canal to connect Lake Washington with Puget Sound became an important issue in the 1890s, and former Washington Territory governor Eugene Semple created the Seattle and Lake Washington Waterway Company in 1894 in an effort to achieve this goal. The venture acquired investors and digging work occurred on Beacon Hill. That earth was used to fill in some of the tidelands, as seen on this map where Harbor Island is today. However, a more northern canal route gained favor, and the southern canal and locks project was abandoned by 1905.